


Why

by wisia



Series: Platonic Soulmates [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, Light Angst, M/M, Platonic Soulmates, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-17
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-20 00:37:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10651374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wisia/pseuds/wisia
Summary: Steve asks why, and Tony doesn't quite know how to answer.





	Why

**Author's Note:**

> This is because I was thinking about the Tony/Rhodey platonic soulmate fic I wrote some time ago, and I thought if it was flipped -- man, there would be so much angst on Tony's part. So, it's not as long or in depth as I would like it. Seriously, it's been so long since I've written anything due to time -- but at least it's something. Though, not sure how much sense it makes. But okay. Enjoy anyway. Thanks.

It was one of the greatest love stories ever told. Captain America and James “Bucky” Barnes. Everyone knew it—a pivotal moment in American history. The day Steve Rogers rescued Bucky led to the birth of a national hero. All because he loved his soulmate so much that he—

Tony exhaled, eyes shuttering closed partway before reopening them. Knowing the history as it were didn’t make it any easier to stand here. There was a throb in his chest, deep under the synthetic skin and grafted bones. An ache that ran so deep and long that Tony barely remember what it was without that damn ache. Still, Tony stood there. Studied James Barnes as he laid in rest, undisturbed and unaware of the way Tony searched him.

The Accords were a mess. It took too long to right them, and too long to wrangle all the pieces in place so that _they_ could come home. So, that _he_ could come home.

“You’re one lucky bastard,” Tony murmured under his breath, the ache in his chest throbbing with renewed vigor. Barnes didn’t answer, preserved in the cold of his cyro-chamber, but it wouldn’t be long now. The files and B.A.R.F. were ready at hand to free a man from years of commands and suffering. It was some stupid need in him that Tony had to see him, in person and up close. He could see in the lines of Barnes’s face just why Steve loved him, why anyone would have loved him.

Tony sighed again. No more useless wallowing. He looked at Barnes, giving a mental salute. He turned.

“Tony!”

Crap. He stayed too long.

“What are you doing here?” Steve Rogers looked at him. Tony couldn’t tell if he was resigned or what. He gave a flippant shrug, tucking his starting to tremble hands into his pockets.

“I had business with T’challa.”

“But you’re here,” Steve countered. He cast a doubtful eye at where Bucky rested.

“I didn’t do anything.” The implied to him went unspoken but sounded loud and clear.

“I—“ Steve floundered. “I wasn’t going to say that.”

“You didn’t have to.” Tony shook his head. He made his way out of the door.

“Wait.”

Tony paused, looking at Steve over his shoulder, wary. “What?”

“You…” Steve took a deep breath. “You never called.”

“I didn’t,” Tony affirmed. The burner phone sat in a drawer in Tony’s bedside table.

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“Tony.” Steve frowned. “I—“

“I don’t know what you want from me,” Tony interrupted. He faced Steve full on. “You know Ross was watching—monitoring everything. And it was…safer.” _Easier_.

“Like you couldn’t have found a way around it,” and Steve stepped right up towards him. Because he never knew when to back down, and Tony’s words contained enough of a challenge. His blue eyes met his, and Tony clenched his teeth together.

“We could have worked together.”

“Big words, Rogers. You only pull that card out when something isn’t going your way.” Every single time because everyone listened to Captain America. Not Tony Stark.

“Like doing it alone is any better,” Steve retorted. There was a flush to his cheeks, dark and angry.

“Well, good thing, I wasn’t alone.”

Steve stared at him, thrown off course by those words.

“I wasn’t alone,” Tony repeated. “I had Romanov and T’challa did a lot to smooth things over. I would have had Rhodey, but he’s still recovering and—point is. I had someone. It just wasn’t you.”

Tony swiveled on his feet, making a line to the carefully put together package. He picked it up and tossed it at Steve.

“Here.”

Steve caught it easily. “Tony—“

“You’ll get your happy ending. I guarantee it.”

“What? I don’t understand it.”

Tony should leave. T’challa can explain it, but—

“It’s for him.” Tony jerked his head in Barnes’s direction. “It’ll hopefully get rid of those commands in his head and keep Hydra from using him again.”

His chest throbbed, and Tony saw the barest outline of a shield coming down. He inhaled slowly as Steve continued to stare at him, speechless.

“Well, that’s that.” Tony doesn’t need to be here for their reunion. There is an 86.3% chance it will work perfectly, maybe higher once T’challa’s scientists checks over the biological components.

“Why?” Steve asked, the only thing he seemed capable of saying.

“I don’t think it needs saying, but it’s _you_.”

There is a pause, a moment, and then Tony watched the awareness flickered in Steve’s eyes. Everything that wasn’t said, and there’s an exposure that’s far too intimate for him to handle. The sensation crawled up his skin, raising goosebumps, and he almost can’t breathe or believe how easy it was to say that.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” And again, there were the whys.

“Because you had him,” Tony said, soft and gentle. “How could I ask you? Even before we found him? He’s yours in every way. I knew that, and I know it couldn't be me. I hoped anyway. Stupidly. And you know a bunch of things happened. So, here we are, Steve. I hope you’re happy.”

“You—“ Steve drew himself up, shoulders squared and jaw set. “You stubborn…”

It took too long to register the way Steve closed the distance, pulled him into his chest.

“What?”

“You’re not an easy man to understand, Tony.”

He doesn’t get the look in Steve’s eyes, that fondness and frustration there.

“Bucky and I are soulmates.”

“Say something I don’t know.” Tony tested the grip, but Steve is holding on to him far too tightly. He is only human against Steve’s superior enhanced abilities.

“Despite what everyone thinks, it has only ever been a bond between brothers. It’s platonic.”

“What?” There’s a thudding to his heart, a different rhythm from the ache in his chest. Tony can barely hear over the thudding, and dizziness struck him hard. He gripped Steve’s arms to keep himself up. “What are you saying?”

“The same thing you’re saying.” Steve smiled at him, brilliant and beautiful. “Let’s go home together, Tony.”


End file.
